That day was December 24th.
The midnight bell rang, and after twelve chimes, December 24th passed, and December 25th arrived.
Two people wearing long blue robes and red and white koi masks walked down the spiral staircase from the second floor in unison.
The hall was silent, and everyone's eyes were on the staircase.
The two people in blue robes did not completely descend the stairs.
They stood on the landing at the corner of the spiral staircase between the second and first floors, stretched out their hands towards the crowd in the hall below, and began to pray.
"Light in the darkness, waiting in the eternal abyss!"
"My Lord descends, with all beings as guides!"
"I swear allegiance to my Lord, as my Lord's most devout believer!"
"The Spirits of Light burn in the darkness, the power of light is endless!"
"Lay down the butcher knife! Achieve Buddhahood immediately!"
"My Lord lives forever! Ruling the darkness! Dominating everything! Immortal for all eternity!"
The crowd in the hall immediately erupted in an uproar.
"What does 'lay down the butcher knife, achieve Buddhahood immediately' mean?"
"What is a Buddha?"
"I've only heard of the Holy Church Bodhisattva, never heard of what a Buddha is..."
Amidst the clamor, dozens of golden ingots suddenly fell from the sky, drifting into the hall.
Everyone stopped whispering and hurried to catch the golden ingots, only to find that they were not real gold, but paper ingots made of gold foil.
And in the middle of each paper ingot was written a sentence.
"Congratulations! You have received the blessing of light! The Spirits of Light can grant you one wish, as long as you can pay enough reward."
Then, the crowd in the hall erupted and began frantically scrambling for the gold foil paper ingots that they had just disdained.
Fan Chengqi smiled as he watched the scramble in the hall, and raised the glass of red wine in his hand: "To the light!"
Fan Chengcai also raised his glass of red wine, "To the light!"
The two of them drank it all in one gulp, the wine in the glass, as red as blood.
They did not go down to fight over those limited golden wishing ingots.
Because the person who could fulfill their wishes was about to come up.
The two Praying Masters wearing red and white koi masks smiled slightly as they watched the madness of the crowd in the hall, turned and went upstairs, and together with Fan Chengqi and Fan Chengcai, went to a small reception room on the second floor.
The door of the reception room was quickly closed, and two bodyguards in black suits stood guard at the door.
In the reception room, the two Praying Masters took off their koi masks and introduced themselves to the Fan brothers.
"Fan Da Shao, Fan Er Shao, hello, I am Praying Master Da Luyuan from the Alliance of the Spirits of Light."
"I am Praying Master Xiao Luyuan from the Alliance of the Spirits of Light."
Fan Chengcai asked the two Praying Masters politely: "Gentlemen, would you like white wine or red wine?"
Both Praying Masters shook their heads: "We don't drink alcohol, coffee is fine."
"...You guys have good taste..." Fan Chengcai glanced at them with a smile that was not a smile, and personally made them hand-ground coffee.
Ten minutes later, the unique aroma of coffee wafted out.
The two Praying Masters took a deep breath, feeling physically and mentally refreshed.
The two Praying Masters slowly sipped the coffee, closed their eyes and savored it for a while, before opening their eyes and nodding to the Fan Chengqi and Fan Chengcai brothers, "The coffee is very good, thank you both."
Fan Chengqi raised his glass to them, smiling without saying a word.
Fan Chengcai leaned comfortably on the curved sofa, and asked with a smile: "May I ask the two Praying Masters, what does 'lay down the butcher knife and achieve Buddhahood immediately' mean? We have never heard of this saying."
Praying Master Da Luyuan quickly put down his coffee, and said with a serious face: "Do you know the Holy Church Bodhisattva?"
"Of course, we know." Fan Chengqi and Fan Chengcai both became more serious, losing their earlier nonchalant attitude.
Praying Master Da Luyuan said excitedly, "The second-level deity revered by our Alliance of the Spirits of Light is called Buddha!"
"And Buddha is a level higher than the Holy Church Bodhisattva!"
As he spoke, he tapped the virtual display screen on his Smart Bracelet, projecting the character "Buddha" [Buddha] in the air.
"Buddha is everywhere, pervading countless galaxies and spanning all time and space!"
"Buddha is omnipotent. As long as you believe in it, all your desires will be fulfilled!"
"Buddha is all-encompassing. Even if you are a great evildoer, you can immediately become a Buddha as long as you lay down your butcher knife!"
Fan Chengqi asked with a half-smile, "...If everyone becomes a Buddha, what will your master do?"
Praying Master Xiao Luyuan made a gesture of burning flames in front of his chest and said, "My master is the Spirit of Light, even above Buddha, a first-level deity! Our members can become Buddhas so that they can better serve the Spirit of Light!"
"So there is still a distinction between high and low..." Fan Chengcai said with a smile, no longer so serious.
Fan Chengqi finished his glass of red wine and said to the two praying masters, "The matter of joining the Alliance of the Spirits of Light can be discussed later. I invited you here today because I want to find two high-level Gene Evolvers to be my brother's bodyguards."
Fan Chengcai held the red wine in one hand and rested the other on the armrest of the sofa, saying casually, "I need Gene Evolvers with at least A-Rank Peak Mental Strength. Does your alliance have anyone like that?"
Praying Master Da Luyuan narrowed his eyes. "Fan Er Shao, may I ask why you want to hire such high-level Gene Evolvers?"
Fan Chengcai smiled without saying a word, clearly not wanting to answer.
Praying Master Xiao Luyuan said, "I can guarantee that our alliance has such people, but the price they ask is not something you can afford."
Fan Chengcai was amused by this statement and said sternly, "Take a good look at who you're talking to!"
Praying Master Da Luyuan and Praying Master Xiao Luyuan were not afraid at all.
The two looked at each other and laughed together. "Perhaps the two of you don't know how powerful our Alliance of the Spirits of Light is."
As they spoke, they tapped their Smart Bracelets, and a string of names appeared on the virtual display screen.
When Fan Chengqi and Fan Chengcai saw these names, they couldn't help but sit up straight, their expressions becoming even more serious.
"...These are all members of our alliance, but they are already high-ranking praying masters, higher in rank than the two of us," Praying Master Da Luyuan said with a smile.
Praying Master Xiao Luyuan finished his coffee, stood up, and said, "Our alliance is very strict. It is already an exception to reveal alliance secrets to the two of you today. I hope you will not spread them."
Praying Master Da Luyuan also stood up and cupped his hands in farewell with Praying Master Xiao Luyuan.
As the two were about to reach the door, Fan Chengcai glanced at Fan Chengqi and finally stopped them. "Please wait, may I ask what price it would take to hire a Gene Evolver with A-Rank Peak Mental Strength?"
Praying Master Da Luyuan and Praying Master Xiao Luyuan turned around together.
Praying Master Da Luyuan said, "I told you, your family can't afford it."
"Don't you believe in the financial resources of our Fan's Clothing?"
"If your family was Zong Military Industries, or Quan's Mining, or Li's Pharmaceuticals, we would certainly believe it," Praying Master Xiao Luyuan said with a smile.
This is the second update; there will be a new update at 12:05 tonight.
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